Intervenor Beware! – Brewers Retail v. Campbell

In Brewers Retail v Campbell, 2022 ONSC 2795, Justice Morgan dealt with costs in "procedurally unusual circumstances": the Financial Services Regulatory Authority ("FSRA"), Ontario's pension regulator, was granted intervenor status to oppose a consent motion for certification for settlement purposes and sought its costs.

This was a class action in respect of a proposed class of employees and former employees of Brewers Retail Inc. ("Brewers") who challenged aspects of their pension plan. The FSRA sought to oppose certification and proposed settlement and brought a motion requesting that the matter be stayed in favour of the jurisdiction of the Financial Services Tribunal, which had already deferred certain questions to the court in parallel proceedings. At the certification motion, Justice Morgan granted the FSRA intervenor status to consider its arguments on their merits. However, in the result, the court rejected all of the FSRA's positions.